The Year of Social Influencers

As savvy consumers, it’s safe to say that in this day in age, audiences are resonating less with logos and more with humans. Audiences are slowly shifting from retrieving their real-time product updates from television, radio and print media and instead leaning on channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With 47% of online consumers using ad blockers, this gives brands and businesses even more reason to put their dollars behind social influencers. Influencer marketing allows brands to meet their consumers where it’s most convenient for them – on social media. As a media agency, we always like to have a finger on the pulse of authentic content creation, and we can’t help but to notice social influencing taking the industry by storm. From a-list celebrities all the way down to tiny niche thought leaders – audiences are migrating towards brands that are investing in real people.

What exactly are Social Media Influencers?

Social Media Influencers exist on all primary social platforms. The only difference between social media and television commercials is that you can’t decipher the advertisement right away. Your favorite influencer, who you’ve followed for over a year on Instagram and Twitter, is using your new favorite products and promoting brands, all while staying true to their unique voice and story.

Let’s walk through a few common influencer models:

Brand Ambassadors: These are the experts, superstars or up-and-comers in your market and industry. Ambassadors are a fantastic extension of your brand, as loyal experts who can test and review new products, attend in-person events and curate conversations that lead to new social followers and increased engagement with your organization.

Brand Advocates: Brand advocates are loyal consumers and fans who can’t stop talking about your product. While they may not have the followings or professional reputation of your ambassador’s, advocates are influencers who must engage on a semi-regular basis and occasionally send products to, in an effort to re-energize their channels and brand loyalty.

Micro-Influencers: Micro-influencers have between 10k and 100k followers making them the guinea pig for curated content that maximizes engagement and reach with your target audiences.

“Power middle” Influencers: These are folks with a large reach of up to 250,000 followers that have been carefully cultivated through relationships and two-way communication over a long period of time.

Influencer marketing can exist anywhere; it can be part of your content strategy, social strategy, PR strategy or audience growth strategy – helping to amplify everything from traditional advertising or in-store/online shopper marketing efforts. In 2017, these collaborations between major brands and influencers will only increase. If influencer marketing is the beginning, then what’s next for social content? How do you plan to implement social influencers into your marketing stack? Tell us in the comments below.